


Ice Coffin

by CatLady86



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Gen, Gore, Head Injury, Paranoia, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 04:52:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14277312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatLady86/pseuds/CatLady86
Summary: While exploring the Greyshire Glacial Grotto, Noctis becomes separated from his companions after falling through the floor. Now he is left battered and bloodied with an increasingly cracking mental state all alone in the cold darkness.





	Ice Coffin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sh1k4r1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sh1k4r1/gifts).



> Thank you for the interesting prompt, Sh1k41. I hope you like it. :D 
> 
> A slight trigger warning for dark themes including body injury and thoughts of suicide.

He was shrouded in shadows and the only sound he could hear besides his panicked breath was the echo of water dripping somewhere close. It was freezing where he was, wherever that is, he doesn’t know, his head hurts way too much to properly think. 

Noctis slowly pushes himself up onto his arms, sucking in a deep breath as a feeling like someone slicing his skin with razors rips through his entire body, but the pain becomes too much for him to handle and he slumps back down.

So tired, so cold. Where were the others? Why aren’t they around? What had- Oh wait, that’s right, he scouted ahead despite the others' warning and the ice floor had cracked under his feet, and he was too far away for them to help. Shit, were they okay? Was he going to be okay? 

The sound of the droplets grow louder as his head becomes less fuzzy, almost as if they are right next to him. He paws around, feeling a wetness unlike water near him and a sharp dip in the floor where the water is dripping, only it's not water, the substance is tacky and smells like metal. It smells strangely familiar. It smells like blood. It is blood, his.

Noctis slowly brings his hand to his head, feeling the sticky liquid matting his hair and the side of his face. Shit, he’s going to need a potion. Noct uses as much strength as he can muster to reach into the Armiger and pulls out...Nothing, there were none left. Fuck. What now? His phone? That proves futile too, no reception. He feels tired, and cold, and so alone. 

The Prince startles awake after passing out, hearing a strange scratching sound from somewhere in the darkness. Was it a Daemon? Panic kicks in and Noctis forces himself up, fighting back the pain as he goes to stand up. 

_SNAP_

He crashes back down to the ground, screaming in agony as a warm liquid pools down his cold leg. His leg was broken, bone jutting through the muscle and flesh, and now he has another gaping hole from which more blood begins to leave his battered body. Noctis lays on the cold hard ground sobbing, he doesn’t even care about tipping off any potential Daemons nearby to his pitiful form, they probably would smell his blood first anyway. He feels so defeated, he just wants to admit defeat and let it all end.

NO! No, no! He can’t give up, not yet. There were things he needed to do, people he couldn’t let down. He couldn’t afford to just lay down and die in this icy coffin. Noctis again pushes himself up, but this time remains on his hands and knees. He attempts to turn his flashlight on but finds it busted, most likely from the fall, so he takes out his phone and finally gets a glimpse of his surroundings. Ice and darkness. The area isn’t completely familiar either, probably a part they yet to explore but it does resemble the layout of the cavern so he can’t be that far away. Will he be able to make it out of here? Are his friends going to find him in time or-

Chuckles echoing from the distance snaps him from his thoughts and sends a chill down his spine different then what he is already experiencing. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Imps. He needed a way to defend himself while also finding safety. Walking was out of the question, leaving his only option to drag his broken body. A sword or spear would be too cumbersome to wield in his current state, a shield too. Daggers? No wait, a pistol. Yeah, that would work. If any of the Imps got close he could hit them from farther away and scare off the other ones. Plus his friends could hear the shot and come to his rescue. Yeah, that’s what he’ll do. 

Noct reaches into the Armiger, searching for one of the smaller pistols that he and Prompto wield at times, thankfully finding it and clutching it tightly in his grip. He looks around at his surroundings more closely now that his focus has returned, seeing a ledge up higher that an incline near him leads up to. That’d be a good start, give him the opportunity to overlook the cavern.

So with his phone as a flashlight in one hand, gun for protection in the other, Noctis will himself forwards despite the excruciating pain coursing through him as he drags his battered body across the cold ice floors. But he finds it increasingly hard to move while holding his phone, the light angled downward. Only one other way to solve that issue. He now holds his phone clenched in his mouth, the light shining forward and giving him a clear view while moving forward. 

The venture up the incline wasn’t as impossible as he initially thought, the only real problem being the pains and throbbing in his body, plus a migraine and occasional blurred vision he gets. The surrounding area becomes more similar to what he has seen throughout the upper areas of the grotto; paths of stone sheathed in ice, icicles jutting out and up from all angles, and many nooks and crannies where Daemons could jump out at him; but it could also provide a place for him if need be. There were ledges up above, easily accessible with a warp, however, that was currently impossible for him, him barely having the strength to keep himself sitting up. 

The sounds of small feet puttering about sends him into a panic, whipping his body around despite the sharp pains, looking for the sources of the noise. Once again he sees nothing and the area grows silent beside his breaths and creaking of ice. Was he just being paranoid now? 

When he’s absolutely sure nothing is there, he resumes his ascent up, sliding slightly and jarring his mangled leg; the protruding bone catching at times on edges or in crevices in the ground. The Prince chokes out a soft sob and rests himself momentarily, his head pounding, lungs burning, body in sheer pain, and bile rising up his throat. But he has to keep going. He will make it, his friends will find him, he will be safe, he will be alright. 

The ground under his hands become greatly slick as he reaches the top, causing him to slip and smash his torso harshly against the floor, making him shriek the loudest yet as a couple of his front teeth busts and his phone cracks, causing the sharp shards to cut his lips and the inside of his mouth. Noctis inhales sharply and wails mournfully while slumping to the ground in defeat, losing all will to move forward. 

He was shrouded in darkness again, blood was oozing from his maimed body and down his sore throat that was making it increasingly difficult to breathe, and he was slowly dipping in and out of consciousness. He was tired, cold, achy, and alone. He couldn’t keep going, he wants it to stop, he wants to die. 

All sound stops as the gun in his grip is brought up to his head, rested against his temple. A quick pull of the trigger would end it; the tiredness, the coldness, the aches, and the loneliness, it would all end. So Noctis closes his eyes and softly breaths, a shaky hand holding the gun flush against his skin, and pulls the trigger.

The next time he opens his eyes all he can see is a soft light partially blotted out by fabric. His body feels numb and the coldness is gone, instead, he was warm. He feels safe. Was this the afterlife? Noctis tries to shuffle himself but is stopped when a hand gently pats his back and someone shushes him softly. 

“It’s all right now Noct, we have you, you’re safe.” 

Noct just rests himself back down, closing his eyes and drifting back off as the warmth swaddles him. The pain was gone, he was warm, he was safe, and he wasn’t alone.


End file.
